


Nightlife and Nightlights

by DramaticGarbage



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol/Drinking, Food/eating, M/M, Mentions of past threatening, Single Dad AU, a shitty female/mother type figure because i apparently have issues to work out, divorce mention, famous au, royality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27939788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticGarbage/pseuds/DramaticGarbage
Summary: Patton works at a daycare and has a couple kids who he will admit are favorites of his.. And maybe one of them has a more interesting home life than he ever could have guessed. But it wasn’t like that would ever effect him, right?
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 35
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been something I’ve had in my head for a long time, but I’ve been nervous about actually writing and posting it because I didn’t think people would be too interested in it. But I did no content November to try and get myself to write for me and not for the validation.. So I wrote it for me and.. Now here it is. If at least one other people likes it, then it was worth posting.

Patton smiled as he walked into work, happily looking around the space as if he was seeing it for the first time. He absolutely loved what he did, and he was so thankful that he’d been able to find this job after he’d moved to this part of town. It was a richer area, not far from downtown, he’d honestly gotten extremely lucky to snag the room he’d found at the price he did. He sighed contently as he fully made his way in and walked around the counter, setting his bag down in his cubby and heading out into the main area.

“Patty’s here, Patty’s here!” Came a familiar little voice, him smiling as he instinctively crouched down to catch the little blur running toward him. 

As the small girl crashed into him in a hug - thankfully she was only about four years old, and seeing as Patton had been working at daycares for the last several years - and the fact that he was an adult in general, he caught her easily without stumbling back. “Well good afternoon, Miss Camilla Rose!”

She pulled back, giggling up at him. “ _Pattyyyy_!” She responded in a playful whine, trying to pout but the huge smile on her face gave her away.

“Alright, _Princess Cami_. How have you been?” He asked, smiling even wider when her face lit up and she giggled at the nickname. 

“Good, good! Patty, you have to look at my hair!” Cami answered, excitedly turning around to show him the back of her head. 

Patton smiled, looking over her. She always came in with intricate hair of some sort, sometimes up, sometimes down.. It was one of her particularly fancy braided ponytails that had actually originated his Princess nickname for her. “Wow, it looks amazing! Who did it for you?” 

She twirled around with a huge smile. “Papa did! It’s always Papa! He does the best hair!” She paused, looking at him for a moment before her face lit up all over again. “Oh! Papa said I could ask if we can watch channel twelve at two o’clock! Would that be okay?” She asked, bouncing up on her toes. 

“Channel twelve at two o’clock. Will do, your highness!” Patton smiled, moving to stand back up and glance at the clock. “Do you want to play a bit longer? We have some time before then.” 

“Okay!” Cami nodded, skipping off to go back to where she’d been playing. 

Patton just loved little ones, and Cami was definitely one of the characters he had the joy of working with, she was just bursting with personality. Things never got old with little sweethearts like her running around. 

He did have to get to some of his usual little work things, walking around and tidying up a bit, making sure he did a little cleaning and sanitizing of the more well-loved areas, keeping busy until his other coworker on duty came over to him. 

“Hey Pat, I’m gonna head out now. It’s just you until close, but Camilla is the only one here and she’s pretty set with the dolls in the soft toys room.” They told him.

“Oh okay, no problem. I can hold down the fort.” He responded, giving a playful salute.

They laughed softly. “I trust you. See you soon.” They gave him a wave as they headed out, leaving Patton as the lone adult. 

He glanced at the time, it was still about twenty minutes to two, not quite time to call Cami to watch.. Whatever it was she wanted to see. Actually, maybe he should figure out what it was before he let her start watching it. That seemed like a smart idea. 

Patton went over to the big tv in the front room - usually reserved for movies, and turned it on so he could flip over to channel twelve. He was surprised to find that it was one of those entertainment “news” channels, one of the ones that reported on celebrity gossip and the like. What was Cami trying to see? 

The anchor of this particular program came back on screen, continuing whatever “report” they’d been on. 

“We’re finally nearing the end of the countdown that so many fans have been waiting for, and now the long awaited day is finally upon us! As we near the big event, let’s do a quick recap of the story for those of you who haven’t heard every juicy detail! 

Today is the day that triple threat A-lister Roman Prince will finally be able to break his silence, as what has seemed to be one of the strictest Non-Disclosure Agreements the world’s ever seen is finally expiring. After his divorce from fellow A-lister Genevieve Anneliese, all he’s been able to share with us is the date that his NDA expires. So now after five long years, we’ve finally reached that fabled day.

Roman has been exceptionally quiet for the last few years, focusing more on songwriting for other stars, including a few new up and comers. There have also been rumors of collaborations with Disney for upcoming projects, and he’s popped up in a few charity concerts as a surprise act.

He’s also avoided many interviews, and several of his high profile friends have disclosed that he’s been skipping out on touring opportunities and after parties, some of them have even said he has been seen leaving the actual events themselves early. We can only assume that it’s due to the binding nature of this contract that he’s been taking these excessive precautions! He must be trying to ensure that he doesn’t land himself in hot water! 

But now that we’ve finally reached the day of the NDA’s expiration, we all wait with baited breath to see what he possibly could be preparing to tell us!” 

The anchor looked up at the time before looking back to the camera. “Alright! We’re going to have one more commercial break and then it’ll be time for Roman’s appearance! We will be right back!” 

Patton took that moment to also glance up at the time, it was six minutes til. Apparently he’d gotten wrapped up in this story and hadn’t realized how much time he’d spent watching it. ...He still didn’t understand what it could be that Cami and her father wanted her to see.. But he had the remote, if he decided it wasn’t appropriate, he could always just switch it off. 

So with that, he walked over to the soft toys room, finding Cami playing an elaborate game of make believe with the dolls. He waited a moment, fondly watching her telling her story out loud to herself as she played. There was a dragon guarded tower and a warrior princess who was going to fight that dragon to save whoever was being held prisoner.. He hated to interrupt, her imagination and creativity knew absolutely no bounds, but she had seemed very excited about the show... 

“Cami? It’s almost two, sweetie.” He called out to her from the doorway, watching as she turned to see him and a big smile spread across her face. 

Cami leapt to her feet, running toward him. “Thank you, Patty!” She called, running right past him and out into the main room. He followed after her, watching fondly as she grabbed one of the big floor pillows and dragged it in front of the tv. 

Patton let out a soft breath of a laugh. “...A little further back, Cami. That’s too close to the screen.” He said, going over to her and pulling the pillow back from the tv a bit. 

“Okaaaay..” She responded, the soft protest in her tone only barely there. She then quickly plopped herself in the middle of the cushion and crossed her legs, happily watching the commercials still on the screen. 

He really didn’t know what exactly to do for now, so he just grabbed the remote and settled back on the couch against the wall, waiting for what was about to happen. He heard a little gasp and quickly looked down to see Cami had turned around on her pillow and saw him also sitting in the room. “Patty! Are you going to watch with me?!” She asked excitedly.

“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll be right here.” He responded with a soft smile.

With another giddy little squeal she popped up off her pillow and ran to him instead, scampering up onto the couch and placing herself in his lap. She made herself comfortable immediately and settled back against his chest, only making Patton even more fond. With a little laugh he just leaned back into the couch and waited with her.

The show came back on, the reporter only talking for a short beat before the screen cut to show a microphone on a stage. It was only a moment before Roman Prince himself walked out onto the stage and Cami immediately let out a giddy little squeal when he came into view, leaning forward a bit and clearly about to watch this with rapt attention. 

Patton hadn’t exactly been expecting that, but.. If this really was as big as the show made it out to be, maybe her father just knew how much Cami was a fan of the singer? But why would she want to watch what seemed to be setting up to be a slander campaign? Patton didn’t follow much of the celebrity rigamarole, but even he had heard about the drama between Roman Prince and Genevieve Anneliese. They were two high profile singers who’d then gotten married, there wasn’t anyone who hadn’t heard about it, honestly. 

And then their divorce five years prior had been on all the magazine covers and on the front screen of major websites, you couldn’t buy milk or check your email without seeing it. Genevieve had been rather vocal about their split, reportedly going to take a break from singing and touring to take time for herself, though she’d remained active on social media. But Roman had gone silent. It had leaked that she’d had him sign an extremely binding agreement, only making the hype surrounding it all grow even larger. 

So surely this was going to be him telling his side. This big interview was bound to be him saying everything he hadn’t been able to for the last five years. Patton kept his hand on the remote, ready to explain to Cami why he didn’t think this would be appropriate for her, when Roman began to speak. 

“Hello, thank you all for tuning in to my big announcement. All I’d like to say is.. I’ll be releasing a new album in a few days, I hope you all enjoy. And today I’d like to perform a few of the songs for you all as a preview.” Roman said with a smile, looking off the edge of the screen and nodding, turning back to the camera as the music started up so he could begin to sing.

Cami was ecstatic, squealing yet again as Roman began to perform and then going back to watching, completely fixated. Patton was able to relax a bit, she just wanted to see her, probable, favorite perform. Seeing as he was a bit older, he was much more aware that some of the lyrics were a bit.. Telling, to put it one way. Some of the songs definitely insinuated a few things about the relationship that he’d been a part of - which would definitely feed the gossipers, but Patton was more than confident that the nuance would go right over Cami’s little head. 

If Patton had thought a bit more about it, it was a little strange that Cami’s dad had seemed to know that there would be a performance. Maybe he’d have considered that Roman Prince probably wouldn’t have risked having this big reveal be live. 

Perhaps he’d even have noticed that Cami herself looked eerily similar to the man on the screen. 

Both Cami and Patton turned their heads at the sound of the bells on the front door, the noise signaling that someone had entered. Patton’s eyes blew wide as Cami immediately leapt out of his lap, hitting the ground running. 

Roman smiled warmly, crouching to catch the blur running right for him. 

“Papa!” 

“Hello, Princess.” His voice was warm and fond as he tucked his daughter into his chest, hugging her close.


	2. Chapter 2

Patton was in shock, right there in front of him was this huge mega celebrity. He’d literally just been watching him on tv. He was the name on everyone’s lips. The center of all this excitement and drama. The.. Father of little Camilla Rose. 

Roman pulled back to look fondly at her before scooping her up into his arms and standing, settling her on the left side of his body to hold her comfortably with one arm. Some part of Patton’s mind noted that she was a bit big to hold that way so easily, but that was extremely unimportant at the moment. 

“Papa! This is Patty!” Cami said excitedly, pulling Patton out of his shocked daze.

Roman turned to see where she was gesturing, finally registering the man in the room with them. With a warm smile, Roman walked over, Patton realizing what was about to happen about a beat later than he should have. 

“Hello, this feels a little unnecessary but um, I’m Roman. It’s nice to finally have a face to put with the name, I’ve been hearing about the _amazing_ Patty for a very long time now.” Roman laughed, holding out his free hand to shake. 

Patton blinked a moment as the words set in and he quickly brought up a hand to shake his in return. “Um, it’s.. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Prince. I.. Yes, I’m Patty. Er- Patton. Patton Corazón.” 

“Patton.” Roman nodded, looking back at the man before him. “And please, feel free to call me Roman. I actually am really glad to run into you, I’ve wanted to thank you personally for a long time now. Cami really has only said the best things, and I wanted to thank you for being someone that means so much to her.” He said, looking back at him sincerely. 

Patton blinked, definitely not expecting that to have been what this celebrity had to say to him. ...He probably would have assumed that he wouldn’t speak to him at all, if he’d actually thought on it. “...Oh, Si- Uh, Roman, it’s no problem at all. I.. I mean, I’m just doing my job but..” Patton’s face softened as he looked at the small girl clutching onto her father’s shirt, something that certainly wasn’t lost on Roman. “..She really is just a little delight. It’s definitely no chore to spend time with her.” 

Cami smiled wide, letting out a little bit of a giggle as she looked from Patton to Roman, Roman turning to return a fond smile to his little girl before looking back to the daycare worker. “I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you. ...Now, we should probably be off, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing you in the future.” He gave him another little nod, which Patton returned, smiling despite his complete shock at the situation as a whole. 

“Bye Patty!” Cami said excitedly, waving. 

“Goodbye, Princess Cami. I’ll see you soon.” Patton said, waving back and watching as the little sweetheart left... Held by her A-list megastar father. 

_What_. 

He had to stand there for a few long moments, leaning on the counter as he replayed the entire day to himself a few times in his head. It honestly wasn’t until he’d cleaned and closed the daycare up for the day that it hit him that he had never heard about Roman Prince having a daughter. That felt like something that would have been in all kinds of tabloids. He made his drive home, plopping onto his couch and grabbing his laptop to look that up out of curiosity. 

But he didn’t find anything. There was absolutely no information at all, not even a stray rumor. That seemed.. Unlikely? But.. That definitely would have been something that would have popped up somewhere if anyone knew or even suspected that Camilla Rose existed.

Patton didn’t know what to do with this information.. He didn’t know that there was anything to be done, honestly. Technically he could inform some kind of media, but that was the absolute last thing on his mind. Not because it would be obvious that he’d been the one who’d done it.. But he just wouldn’t ever think to do something like that. It was clear that Roman and Cami were just a happy little family, there was no doubt how much they loved one another. The very idea of personally and knowingly making either of their lives more difficult made his stomach go sour. 

So, all he could do was continue on. He kept going to work, kept doing things as normally as ever. Nothing changed between him and Cami, she obviously just didn’t grasp who her father was, besides.. Her father. Patton didn’t see Roman again anytime soon, but that wasn’t exactly surprising, he couldn’t imagine that going around town casually was something that was a great idea when you were someone as famous as he was. 

Really the only new thing that happened any time soon was the release of the album that Roman had announced. Patton did enjoy pop music, it was called popular for good reason, after all. But he hadn’t ever really been the type to seek music out. He listened to the radio in the car and they often turned music on for the kids at the daycare, but other than that he didn’t really put any kind of effort into listening to it.

This album, though. Patton couldn't help himself, he absolutely had to listen to that album. In a weird way, this celebrity was now a part of his life. He knew his name, he shook his hand.. He’d called him " _Patty_." He.. He just had to. 

At first, it was pretty much what anyone would have expected. All of the songs were catchy, he had no doubt that they’d be all over the radio in absolutely no time flat. He listened to it through once on the Friday it had released, playing it while he did his usual evening activities. It was undeniably good, there was certainly a reason why Roman Prince was a household name. His voice was so warm and rich... He may have listened to it again later that night. ...Then another time on Saturday. Or maybe it was more like seventeen times. He wasn’t keeping track. That would have been weird.

By Monday he’d heard it more times than he’d probably have admitted aloud, not that that was anything to be ashamed of, of course. But.. There was something about getting that invested in something when it was from someone that he kinda knew? But it wasn’t like they were like.. Friends or anything.. Or maybe.. It wasn’t like there really was any kind of protocol for something this insane and specific, but still. 

It had been over the weekend during those countless listens that he’d begun thinking about the album a bit more... He didn’t want to say it was too much, but.. Anyway. He had started to notice that there was more happening than he had realized in his first several times through. It was actually a much deeper and more meaningful story than one could have noticed on a casual listen. After thinking more on it, he’d realized that the album seemed to be split into.. Sections almost? And the more he thought on it, the more he listened to the lyrics and really considered them as he moved from song to song, the clearer it became to him.

Even though the entire album consisted of catchy pop music, if one really listened to the lyrics and considered the meanings.. It felt as though the album told the story of Roman’s journey over the last five years, doing so in three distinct parts. 

In the first, He was clearly angry to start, hurt and in pain.. Telling the tale of what had been done to him and how he'd been treated poorly at the hands of another. There were a million songs out there that bashed exes, so these could easily be skimmed over and placed in that category. But Patton was honestly surprised, it was clear that Roman had experienced a betrayal - but his words, despite their weight and obvious significance, did not paint nearly as slanderous an image as his ex's had. 

The second part was much more about healing and thriving. He'd learned, he'd focused, he'd grown. He'd gone through something difficult and come out on the other side as a stronger, better person. Patton, like many, tended to enjoy songs like this. It was the kind of music that made one feel triumphant, the anthems that had one rolling their shoulders back and walking with their head held high, like they were untouchable and all powerful.

There was one song between this section and the next, a slower ballad that seemed to urge the listener to live and let live. To move on and let go. Encouraging someone to understand that sometimes people change and need to just accept that things will never be going back to how they were before. He could only assume that the message was rather targeted, but it was still something that would resonate with many. 

Then the final section felt like he was moving forward. It was upbeat and happy, much more carefree. These songs also seemed to paint the picture that there was someone new in Roman's life, someone who he clearly loved and held dear more than he had with anyone before. It was undeniable that the masses loved a love song, he was sure that these would be absolutely everywhere in no time. Couples singing or dedicating them to one another, using them in weddings and events, their lyrics used in everything from internet statuses to tattoos. 

Funnily enough, there was also a bonus track at the end, one that Patton was sure was very much separate from the meaningful journey - and it was a cover of You're Welcome from the movie Moana.

The next time he found himself alone at work with Cami, he’d put the album on in the daycare. He knew how much she loved his music, and it wasn’t as if she’d notice anything in the lyrics especially anyway. Patton definitely had gotten the feeling that Roman had done that intentionally, keeping the songs catchy and upbeat so that more people could listen at any age, even if the topics at hand were a little deeper. 

It was while watching her play that something entirely new occurred to him about that third section of songs. Never once did Roman ever say anything overtly romantic. It was clearly about love, about caring for someone more than he'd ever thought possible, about being dedicated to someone for the rest of his life. There was no doubt in Patton’s mind that everyone listening would immediately assume Roman was seeing someone new, he’d even done so himself. But.. Watching Cami. He’d seen how much Roman loved his daughter, in that short interaction they’d had, it was clear that she was his entire world. It made so much more sense.

He’d also completely written off the bonus song, it was just a fun little romp. His last name was Prince afterall, he’d definitely played around with the Disney angle through out the years. Cami had been excited when Patton had started up the album, starting to bob her head to the music a bit as she continued to play. But it was when they got to the bonus track that she started to sing along a little, giggling a bit in between the lines. Patton blinked, watching her with the concept of that third act of the album still fresh in his mind.

The song ended, the album starting to loop back around, and Patton called out to her. “Hey Cami? What’s your favorite princess movie?” 

Cami turned to look at him with a big smile. “Moana! Me and Papa sing the songs all the time!” 

Patton smiled fondly, looking at her. “I’m sure that’s a lot of fun.” 

Could this man get any sweeter? This was just another thing for his daughter, she so clearly meant so very much to him. The more he thought about it, the warmer his cheeks began to feel, it suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks what he’d done. All of the listening and analyzing and focusing and.. Enjoying and appreciating.. Picturing and fantasizing.. 

He’d gotten completely lost in his thoughts when those familiar bells on the door chimed. They both turned to look, and Cami was immediately running to Roman once again for a hug. 

Patton blinked, justifying his presence in the entranceway to the daycare. ...Deciding he was actually there and that he was really seeing him in person. Realizing how desperately he hoped he wasn’t blushing darkly enough for it to be noticeable on his tan cheeks.

After their greeting hug, Roman continued to crouch so he could talk to Cami on her level. “Princess, do you want to go play for a bit longer? I need to talk to Patty for a minute, and I think you’d have more fun playing than talking.” 

“Ok, Papa.” She nodded, skipping back off to her games of make believe, Roman watching her go as he stood back to his full height. He turned to Patton, giving him a warm smile as he made his way closer and Patton having to mentally prepare to actually interact with him after how much he’d been in his thoughts over the past few days. 

“Hello again, Patton.” Roman said, coming up to the counter and actually leaning forward on it, making himself comfortable on his arms. 

“Uh, h-hello again, Roman.” Patton said, trying so hard to be casual and not at all doing a good job of it. 

Thankfully Roman responded only with a soft laugh before beginning to speak. “So.. I actually wanted to ask you a favor.”

Patton blinked, giving his head a subtle shake, as though to knock loose any words that he’d imagined rather than heard. But it seemed like this was actually happening. “...Um, alright. What’s do you need?” 

Roman looked at him for a few moments before answering, sending Patton’s thoughts into a complete spiral. “I’d like for you to come on a vacation with us.”


	3. Chapter 3

Patton had to stare back at him for a long moment, looking at that ridiculously attractive and nonsensically casual face. Roman didn’t even seem to react to the fact that he was clearly thrown off, his reaction apparently wasn’t that much of a surprise. 

It felt like an eternity before Patton choked out a little “… _What_?” 

Roman just shrugged a bit. “I’m going to be taking Cami on a little surprise vacation, but if I’m completely honest with you… It’s just that I’ve never done that before. I haven’t had to keep track of her anywhere that is all that busy and crowded.. That along with the fact that I can sometimes find myself pulled into a number of strange situations at the drop of a hat, just because of, you know, being me. I could technically hire someone to come along to help.. But I don’t want it to be some stranger for her to have to get used to from scratch. She completely adores you, so I think it would be best for her if it was you.”

All of those words definitely entered Patton’s ears, but they had to bounce around his head for a bit before he was able to make any kind of sense of them. “…So, what is it.. What is it that you’d want me to do?” 

“I just.. Kind of want another pair of eyes to make sure she’s safe and having a good time. And if anything were to happen where I ended up needing to go off and handle something, you could take her to go do something fun in the mean time. …I don’t exactly foresee that happening, but I’d like to be prepared. But.. Other than that, it’s also that I’d like to properly thank you for doing so much for her. So.. Yes, I ask that you try and do what you can to make sure Cami is having a good time and is safe, but it’s also just.. A vacation, you know? I’d hope that you would also have a good time yourself.” Roman explained before pausing and looking back at him for a moment. It seemed a bit like he was gauging Patton’s response, and then he continued. “And I would cover all the expenses, of course. The flight, the hotel, all food and drink, honestly anything you may want as far as souvenirs go… And obviously cover your lost wages as well as compensate you for your time.” 

Roman gave Patton another few moments to process this, the popstar could almost see the gears working in his head as he tried to make sense of that information. 

Patton was reeling. First off… He was basically being offered a paid vacation - all expenses paid at that. That was.. Well, he’d sort’ve be working, but from how Roman described it, it didn’t sound any different than going anywhere with a child in tow. Of course he’d make sure any little one that was with him was safe and happy to the best of his ability. But making the same amount that he would have if he’d been home and working? That was.. And not having any expenses for an entire vacation? How could someone just.. Right, rich rich celebrity. Uh.. Oh, right, words. Words should be said. 

“…That’s.. Roman, that’s so much. I.. I don’t want you to have to pay that much just for me.” Was what he managed, blushing as a smile curled Roman’s lips. 

“Really, I insist. I promise you that it’s absolutely no problem. You have no idea how much it would mean to me, the money is no object. I just.. I really want to make sure she has as good of a time as possible. And.. I feel like she’d honestly be ecstatic to have you along.” Roman let out a little laugh, warm and fond. “You really have no idea how much she talks about you.” 

That had Patton’s blush darkening more, him now positive that it had to be noticeable by this point. “…O-oh. I.. I If.. If you’re really sure.” 

Roman stood back to his full height, no longer leaning over the countertop, Patton’s eyes having to flick upward to maintain eye contact. “Then it’s settled. I’ll have to get you some dates and we can work that out. And I’ll need a bit of information from you to book tickets and the like. But it shouldn’t be any kind of issue.” He was smiling, those perfect pearly whites fully on display. 

“Uh, of course. I.. Did you have an idea of where you’d like to go? And for about how long?” Patton asked, doing everything he could to maintain his composure as the ridiculousness of this conversation only seemed to increase the longer it went on. 

“Oh, my apologies. I should have led with that. I’m thinking Orlando. We can do all the parks.” He gestured vaguely as though that was no big deal at all, then pulled out his phone, opening it and beginning to scroll through. “And as far as a time frame… Let’s see.. The Disney parks of course, and there’s Universal and a few others.. Soooo… Maybe a month?” He said casually, looking up to see what Patton thought of that. 

His eyes looked even bigger than they usually did behind his big round glasses, nearly threatening to bug right out of his head. “A. _. A month?_ ” 

“I’d want to be sure we had time to do everything we’d like to do without having to rush.” He shrugged. “And she’s so small, I can’t imagine she’d be up to do too many things on too many days in a row. So allowing for some rest days.. And it would give us the chance to go back to places we may want to visit again.”

Patton was still completely dumbfounded, but he was starting to accept that that was something he honestly just needed to get used to. Especially if he was really going to spend that much time with this man. He was going to take some time to mentally sort that out when he had a chance. “…I.. Okay. I.. I can definitely.. Make that work? I just need to talk to my manager and.. I can let you know when I’ll be free for.. That long.” 

Roman smiled wide, actually reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him warmly. “Amazing! Thank you so much. Here, let me give you my phone number, then if you can just send me your full name and birthdate, and of course let me know what you figure out for the time coming up.” 

He nodded, slowly pulling out his phone so he could hand it over to Roman, allowing the popstar to enter his information. “Alright, we should be good to go then. We’ll keep in touch.” 

“…Definitely. I’ll.. Uh, text you right now.” He nodded, taking his phone back to begin typing the information he’d been asked for. 

Roman gave him a nod, smiling as he turned to go retrieve Cami from the other room. 

From that moment forward, Patton’s life was like a whirlwind. He gave Roman his information and then checked his calendar to see the next time he had at least a full month with no engagements he’d need to attend in person. Thankfully his schedule was fairly open… He really didn’t do all that much if he was honest with himself. And once that was handled, it was actually Patton’s manager who approached him about the time off, apparently Roman had called personally to request the dates for him, not wanting him to get in trouble for asking for so much vacation at once. 

His manager looked just as dumbfounded as Patton felt, but of course it was approved. The next thing Patton knew he’d packed up basically all of his clothes and things he thought he’d need for a month away from home, made sure everything was turned off, unplugged, and locked up.. And then suddenly he was in a taxi on his way to the airport. He’d been instructed by Roman to head to a specific check-in desk and give his name, which he did.. And then proceeded to be treated like he was the celebrity himself. They checked his bags for him, gave him his ticket, and the escorted him to the VIP lounge - even carried his carry on bag there for him. 

Patton didn’t even know that airports had VIP lounges. This was.. Absolutely crazy. There was shock and surprise and then there was.. Whatever this was that he was experiencing. He had no idea how he was supposed to just be normal about this. He was about to spend a month with this mega celebrity on some crazy vacation. How was he supposed to maintain any kind of composure? He really needed to come up with something to keep him grounded or he would probably go a bit c-

There was an excited little gasp followed by an ecstatic, “ _Patty?!_ ” 

Almost entirely due to muscle memory, Patton immediately crouched and quickly found a small body in his arms hugging him as tight as her little arms could manage. The stress left his thoughts immediately as he hugged his favorite little sweetheart. 

“Well hello, Princess Cami.” He said with a smile in his voice, pulling back to look at her. 

Cami was bouncing on her toes, smiling from ear to ear. “You’re here too?! Are you gonna come with us to the Disneylands?!” 

“Yep! I’m coming too! We’re gonna have so much fun together.” He answered, finding her happiness extremely contagious. 

She let out an excited little squeal and grabbed his hand, giving him a slight tug deeper into the lounge. He quickly had to stand so he could let her pull him in, following right behind her. “Papa! Papa, Patty’s here too!” She called excitedly. 

Patton’s eyes then found Roman, sitting casually on a very expensive looking lounge seat, smiling back at them. “I know, Princess! It was a surprise, I hoped you’d be excited to see him.” He said, leaning forward to get a bit closer to her eye level and giving her a warm smile. 

“Yeah! We’re gonna have so much fun and we can play and go on the rides and it’s gonna be the best thing ever!” She said, still bouncing. It was like her body was threatening to burst from the excited energy building up inside of her, and the only way she could prevent that was bouncing and letting out little high pitched noises. 

Patton and Roman were both looking at her so fondly, watching her do what she could to handle what she was feeling. The two adults caught eyes for a moment, seeing how fond and endeared the other was, Patton having to quickly avert his gaze to try not to let that soft look get to him. 

Roman sat back up straight, still looking at Patton. He certainly was pretty cu.. “Patton, please feel free to make yourself comfortable. They serve food and drinks here in the lounge, and they’ll come escort us to the plane when it’s time for us to board. We have a bit of time before then, so feel free to order if you’d like.” Roman explained, watching as the daycare worker turned back to him as he spoke. Patton nodded, glancing around a little bit before settling in the recliner beside Roman’s. 

They ended up having a bit of time to spend, they had arrived early to give themselves plenty of time, of course. Roman had told Patton that they wouldn’t have to go through the long security lines, but they would be pre-boarding by a decent amount of time, so it was still best for them to get there early.

So here they were, sitting casually together in this ridiculously plush VIP lounge, sipping complementary beverages and eating airport food that Patton didn’t believe had any right to be as delicious as it was. Cami settled into doing some drawing and coloring, Roman had clearly brought more than enough activities to keep her entertained. 

Neither adult was actually sure what they should really be doing at this point. Did they talk? Did they sit quietly on their phones? There continued to be no protocol for this situation. Patton hadn’t quite processed that Roman was just.. A person. A fellow adult on this vacation. And Roman wasn’t sure exactly how friendly Patton wanted to be, if he was interested in really interacting with him all that much, or just keep things fairly professional. So they continued to sit quietly for a good bit of time, until Roman finally came up with something to break the silence. 

“Oh, Patton. I have something to give you.” Roman said, leaning toward Patton in his seat. Patton wasn’t sure why the popstar was suddenly entering his space, but it quickly became apparent that Roman was only shifting to make it easier for him to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket. Was that disappointment he felt? …No, it couldn’t be. Roman went back to sitting normally as he flipped it open, thumbing through the contents until he found and removed a black credit card. “Here.” 

Patton took it from his outstretched hand, looking down at it for a moment. Not only was it a very fancy credit card, it had his name on the front. Not Roman’s. “..What’s this?” 

“I had a card printed for you for the trip. If you end up having to take Cami on your own, you can use that for anything she might want. But also, please use it for anything you like, I really doubt you’ll be able to touch the daily limit. …Do let me know if you lose it though.” Roman laughed a little bit, smiling back at him.

The daycare worker had to look back and forth between Roman and the card in his hands a good couple times before he managed to respond. “…Are you.. Are you sure?”

“I promise. Really. I don’t want you to have to worry about a thing while we’re together. I truly want to take care of it all. Please, I’d like to do this for you. For both of you.” He answered, clearly sincere. 

Patton’s expression softened immediately at that answer. “Alright, alright… I _guess_ I can let you do that.” He laughed, pulling out his own wallet to place the card in safely and securely. 

Roman’s smile widened. “Aw, thank you. Aren’t you just _so_ kind?” 

The both of them laughed softly before letting the sound trail off, the silence that then settled between them much more comfortable than it had been before. But Roman did once again pipe up and break it after a little bit. “Oh, I also wanted to ask. Did you want me to pay you for your time before the trip? Or at the end? …Or at anytime in-between, honestly. Whatever would work best for you.” 

“Oh, umm.. Anything would be fine with me, I guess if you want to get it out of the way now so you don’t have to think about it?” He offered, tilting his head to the side a bit as he thought. 

“That’s a good point, here, I’ll just send it over to you now.” Roman nodded, pulling out his phone and tapping a few times. Patton’s own phone vibrated in his hand, him looking down to see what had just come through. He opened the message and immediately made a choking sound, his eyes threatening to pop out like they had back at the daycare. Roman raised an eyebrow. “…Is everything alright?” 

“…..How did you.. Come up with this number? Isn’t this.. This is _a lot_.” He said, looking back to him in shock. 

Roman just shrugged his painfully casual shrug and looked back at him with his unfairly beautiful face. “I asked your manager about how much you’d be losing in wages because of the trip, so I figured I’d cover that, but doubled it to also pay you for the time you’ll be working.. And added a bit on top of that since it’s sort’ve like you’re working the whole time? Not just a forty hour work week, you know?” He explained.

Patton had so many thoughts running through his mind, he’d just been texted more money than he’d normally make in two months, and he wasn’t going to have any expenses for the next month. He also didn’t work forty hour weeks, so that was.. Another thing. Then.. Upon letting his brain experience a single precious moment of clarity, he actually managed to question Roman’s math a bit. “Uh… You said.. You said that you covered the wages I’d have made.. And then paid me that again? Plus more?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Just the wages I’d have lost would be.. Payment enough though? So I didn’t.. Lose any money? You didn’t need to cover them and then pay me again because.. Just the one would have been all I’d need.” Patton managed, his voice still higher than usual due to his overall shock. 

The popstar brought a knuckle to his chin to think that over. “….Oh, yeaaah.. That does make sense, huh?” But then he just shrugged, clearly not planning to do anything to rectify that. “Oh well.” 

Patton thought he’d been making some headway there, but.. As it turned out, he had not. He drew a breath to attempt another protest, but then an employee of the VIP lounge approached and spoke up before he could. “Mr. Prince, I’m here to escort your party to your flight. Are you ready to pre-board?”

“Yes, thank you. Are you ready to go, you two?” Roman asked, standing up and grabbing his carryon. 

“ _Yes_!” Cami quickly threw her coloring book and her markers into her little pink backpack, slinging it onto her back as she leapt to her feet. Patton instinctively stood and quickly stepped forward so he could zip up the bag on her back for her, those markers were going to go flying out in her excitement and he just knew it.. But then he stood up straight, blushing as he realized eyes were on him and his instinctual action, and just gave a little nod as he looked away to grab his own bag. 

Roman smiled fondly over the both of them before turning to the employee once again. “We’re ready to go.” 

Even the employee had a warm little smile from this soft interaction, their eyes flicking back to Roman as he responded. “Of course. If you and your family would follow me right this way.” The employee turned and began to walk off, them all having to get moving if they didn’t want to be left behind.

As they headed off after the employee all together, walking side by side, both of the adults were very pointedly looking forward. No one spoke, no one confirmed, denied, or commented.. But they were both trying to ignore the fact that… They looked undeniably like a family. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In typical me fashion, the worst and most upsetting thing that happens in the fic happened in the past and we’re aaaall okay now.

They were led to their gate and onto the plane without incident. Patton had expected it to be much more of an ordeal, but Roman had retrieved a baseball cap and sunglasses from his bag on the walk over and they'd apparently been enough to hide his identity.. Maybe that coupled with the fact that another man and a small girl also made for a good amount of camouflage, when that wasn’t what people would expect to see along with Roman Prince. But for whatever reason, it thankfully went smoothly.

They were in first class, of course. That fact didn’t surprise Patton, he’d definitely assumed that that would be where Roman would sit on a plane, but the fact that he’d be experiencing it himself wasn’t something he’d fully considered. The seats were big and plush, the personal televisions were noticeably larger than the ones in coach, there was ample leg room.. It was just.. Luxe. 

Roman waved Patton into their row first, him nodding as he scooted in to take the window seat, then Cami followed behind to sit in the middle, with Roman on the aisle. Many of the rows only had two seats, but thankfully there were a few with three so they could sit all together. Cami was immediately asking all sorts of questions about the plane and the flight and everything else that occurred to her, playfully kicking her feet as she did so - thankfully they didn’t come anywhere near reaching either the seat in front of her or the floor of the plane.

Her father answered her questions to the best of his ability, helping her get strapped in and situated in her seat. He also brought her table down so she could get back to her art, thankfully it pulled out as well as flipped down, or it never would have been in reach of her little arms. 

Patton was also looking around in interest, he couldn’t deny that some of Cami’s questions would have been ones he may have asked at some point as well. He was glad to have learned the answers.. As well as relieved that he didn’t have to ask them himself. 

The flight itself went as smoothly as they could have hoped for it to. Cami didn’t enjoy the feeling of takeoff, her nearly scrambling out of her seat so she could cling to Roman, but all he could do was offer her soothing words and his arm to hold onto tightly. Once the plane leveled out and the seatbelt sign went off, he did pull her over into his lap so he could hold her to his chest and softly pet her hair, helping her calm down. 

The daycare worker must have had quite a look of loving fondness on his face while he watched the two of them, seeing as Roman had turned a bit pink and quickly averted his gaze after having had caught his eye for a moment. Patton also quickly turned away to look at the window, doing his best not to turn beat red as he processed all that.

Thankfully the landing went much better than the takeoff.. Seeing as Cami had fallen asleep. Patton hadn’t considered it specifically, but that evening flight time suddenly made an entire new level of sense.

Roman carefully brought her back into his arms once they were able to disembark, going to reach for his bags once he had her situated against his chest, but Patton pulled the bag away from him with a playfully chiding look. They proceeded to have a silent conversation, Roman clearly expressing that he could handle both Cami and a bag, but Patton was not about to let him worry about anything else when he had much more precious cargo to be concerned with. The popstar gave in with a playful pout and eye roll before leading them off the plane. Patton stayed right beside him once they’d gotten into the terminal, Roman was clearly much more well versed with traveling and he was going to follow his lead.

He walked them out toward the shuttles, only pausing once when Patton softly touched his upper arm to get his attention and then gestured silently to the baggage carousels with a questioning expression. He gave him a little shake of the head in response and just nodded toward the doors he was leading them to. No argument was given, so they continued on again. They made themselves comfortable in their private shuttle, waiting for the short while that it took their driver to return with their bags. Once they were all loaded into the back, they were off toward their destination. 

It was only once they were sitting there quietly side by side that they realized how much all of that silent conversing made them seem even more like a couple... Those thoughts were for another time.

They rode quietly in the dark backseat. And as Patton looked out the window at all the brilliant sights the city had to offer, he had no idea that there was a spectator for his adorable reactions of awe. Or maybe _fan_ was a more accurate way to describe it.

They made their way onto the Disney property, the shuttle taking them off to one of the many hotels. Patton had looked into the different options a bit, just out of curiosity. There were quite a few that were ludicrously priced, to put it kindly. He had to assume, based on every interaction he’d had with Roman thus far, that they’d probably be in one of those very pricey rooms. Hopefully not the one that was an entire rented out floor of one of the hotels... But he did his best to mentally prepare in advance so he didn’t gawk too obviously when he finally saw where they’d be staying. 

They pulled up to their hotel, the driver quickly getting out and waving over an employee who had a rolling suitcase rack. The two of them began to quickly load up all of the suitcases from the back of the shuttle and onto the rack as Patton and Roman made their way out of the back seat. Cami was still asleep, her face tucked into Roman’s neck, not seeming at all like she’d be waking up anytime soon. So once the concierge received a nod from Roman, Patton was handed the hotel’s welcome folder which contained their keycards and all of the information about their suite, as well as several other pages of ads and offers. 

Patton skimmed the first page he saw upon opening the paper folder, quickly finding their room number and floor so he could lead them over to the elevator. The employee with the suitcase rack remained just behind them all the way up to their room, following in after them after Patton got the door open. 

Roman turned to Patton, whispering. “I’ll go put her to bed, can you grab my wallet from my pocket to give him a tip? Just a couple bills will be fine.” 

To say that Patton turned red once he’d nodded and proceeded to move behind him and retrieve the wallet from his back pocket was the understatement of the year. Thankfully, Roman walked off to go find a room where he could lay Cami down for the night as soon as he felt that it was gone. Patton and the employee shared a look once he’d disappeared through a doorway, the hotel employee seeming to completely understand what it was the daycare worker was clearly experiencing. 

After floundering for a few moments, he remembered the task he’d been asked to perform, and opened the wallet to find the cash inside....Hundreds. Almost strictly hundred dollar bills. Of course. After blinking several times he reached in and took two of them out, holding them out to the employee. They shared another glance and a couple shrugs, but the employee took the money and thanked Patton, leaving the rack in the room for them to unload at their leisure. 

Once the door had closed behind him, Patton finally took a moment to look around the room. It was clearly a suite.. He could rather confidently say that it was bigger than his apartment, seeing as it had at least three bedrooms. There was a living room area, a kitchen, a dining area.. He was sure there was plenty more as well, but they’d probably do the full tour once everyone was awake the following morning.

Roman returned from one of the rooms, Patton immediately holding out his wallet to him - and completely ignoring the wet spot on the popstar’s collar. 

“Thank you, that was a big help.” Roman said with a smile, taking the wallet to return to his pocket. 

“Oh, uh.. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal.. Just making sure he got his tip.” Patton responded bashfully.

Roman responded with a laugh in his voice. “Well sure, but I meant all of that. Since the plane. I would have had a much harder time without your help. You’re already making a big difference. So, thank you for being here.” Roman laughed a little more, smiling fondly. “I have a feeling I’ll be thanking you several times over the course of this trip, you should probably get used to that.” 

Patton felt a smile grow across his lips, looking back at the popstar playfully. “Oh, because _I_ don’t have a million things to thank you for too?” 

“Alright, alright.. We can call a truce, though I don’t think that will stop either of us.” He responded, equally light-heartedly.

“I can agree to that, it seems more than fair.” He nodded, still with a huge smile across his face.

They stood for a moment, letting the comfortable silence settle over them once again. 

After a few moments, Roman checked his watch, then looked back up at Patton. “It’s a bit late, but not that late. I think I might stay up and have a drink, unwind a bit from traveling, if you’d like to join me.” 

“Oh, um.. That sounds nice. Thank you.” He nodded. 

Roman gave him a warm smile in response. “Alright, let’s find the other two bedrooms real quick. I’d like to get changed into something more comfortable first. ...I feel like I should change Cami into her pajamas too but.. There is only so much difference between the dress she wore to travel and an actual night gown.. So I think I just won’t risk waking her for the night.” He shrugged, mostly just voicing his thoughts aloud as he went to the cart to get his bags. 

“...That sounds smart to me. She’s already comfortable, no use waking her.” Patton agreed, following him to grab his own bags once Roman had removed his. 

The popstar hummed in agreement, then began the search for the bedrooms. Patton followed behind, watching as Roman looked through each doorway as he went. “...Oh, okay. So this is your room, and your bathroom is right here across the hall.” He gestured at the two rooms he’d found. “So mine should be just further down here.”

“Okay, thank you.” Patton said with a smile, heading toward the room once Roman had continued down the hall. “I’ll see you in the front room in a few, then?” He asked, pausing in the doorway. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you in just a minute.” Roman responded, giving him a nod before he disappeared into the room at the far end of the hall. 

Patton went into his room for the next month - ignoring that it was bigger than the one he had at home, setting his suitcase on the desk so he could open it up and look for some of his pajamas. He hadn’t considered until this moment in time that he didn’t think he owned a single “mature” pair of pajamas. All of his sleep sets were a shirt that said something on it and matching pajama pants. Not that he was worried he’d get judged, but.. Maybe if he’d thought more about basically living with a celebrity for a month, he’d have gotten something a little less... Noticeable. 

But he hadn’t. So on went the sky blue shirt and matching pants. There was one large kitty on the shirt, beneath the phrase “ _Stay Paw-sitive!_ ” While the pants were dotted with several of the same kitty, just much smaller. They made him smile, so that was plenty good enough for him. He glanced back at his suitcase, deciding he’d probably unpack it into the provided closet and drawers in the morning. For now.. He was just going to focus on the assuredly surreal interaction he was about to have with Roman Prince. The celebrity who he was on vacation with. And sharing a hotel room with. _That_ Roman Prince. 

He took a bit of a fortifying breath before he stepped back out of his room, making his way out to the living room area once more. He found that Roman had already basically cleared out the mini bar and put everything on the table with some glasses and ice, and he was sitting on the couch mixing something together from the small bottles. 

He looked up when Patton entered the room, giving him a greeting nod and a smile as Patton sat on the loveseat beside the couch he was seated on. He was going to open on asking him what he’d like to drink and if he’d like him to mix it for him, but his eyes caught on those pajamas first, and those tumbling kitties completely stole his attention. 

Patton was immediately prepared to come up with some kind of amazing excuse for them, they were a gift or his other ones were lost or... 

Roman let out a breath of a laugh, moving his attention up to Patton’s face and away from his clothes. “...Those are really cute. Cami is especially going to love them when she sees them in the morning.” 

He cracked a little side smile, trying not to showcase his relief. “Oh, thank you! I hope she does.” 

“I have no doubt about it, she absolutely loves animals. Every single kind. She’s going to have so much fun at the Animal Kingdom park, I just know it.” Roman had a warm smile on his face, clearly fondly thinking about her. 

Patton couldn’t help how endeared and fond he felt as well, deciding at that point to look at what was on the table and start to mix together something for himself. Once he’d gotten that done, he leaned back in his seat and got a little sip before turning to Roman once again. “What’s her favorite one?” 

Roman looked back at him, his warm expression falling. He sighed, getting a sip of his drink before answering extremely softly, his voice barely audible. “....I don’t know.” He admitted, looking into his drink and not up at anything else. 

The daycare worker certainly wasn’t expecting that one.. His brain had definitely categorized “ _anything about Cami_ ” onto the list of safe things to talk about. Patton was immediately reeling, trying to figure out what he’d done wrong, how he could fix it, if he was going to be removed from the premises.. But then he focused back on Roman. He didn’t look upset, irritated, or annoyed, he looked.. Sad. He moved onto his mental list of things that maybe he shouldn’t talk about, deciding to shoot his shot from there instead since the previously approved one clearly hadn’t gone as he’d thought. “....Roman? Are you.. Are you alright?” 

The popstar slowly looked over to him, his eyes searching Patton’s for a few moments before he looked away and got another sip of his drink. “...yeah. Just fine. Uh.. Sorry. I don’t need to bother you with all my.. Stuff.” 

Patton’s expression grew even more concerned. “You wouldn’t be bothering me.. If you want to talk about anything, anything at all, I’m here for you.” He offered, making sure that when Roman looked up at him again, he found nothing but sincerity in his eyes. 

Roman seemed to be weighing his options, deciding if he was really going to get into all this right now. And apparently he was. With a sigh, he began. “I’m just.. Frustrated, I guess is the way to describe it. ...This trip is Cami’s first everything. Her first time on a plane, her first trip to a theme park.. Her first time in a _hotel_. She hasn’t gotten to go to the zoo and see the animals, or meet her favorite characters.. I know she’s young, she won’t remember.. But it makes me so _angry_.”

“....What do you mean? Why hasn’t she..” Patton asked, his voice soft.

The popstar shrugged again. “I.. I don’t know how much you know about my whole...” He gestured vaguely. “Deal. I know it’s been all over the gossip news and the tabloids.” 

He just gave him a little shrug. “I only really know.. The basics, I guess? Nothing much.” 

“So.. After my divorce...” Roman sighed. “I agreed to everything. Every one of her demands. Money, rights to royalties, that one last stupid song collaboration.. I signed the NDA. I agreed to keep all information regarding absolutely any reason that led to the split completely under wraps.. All of that for five years.” 

Patton nodded slowly in return. “Right...” 

Roman had a very sour look on his face, just raising a hand and gesturing back toward the bedrooms in the suite. “The reason.” 

It took him a moment to piece together what he was saying, realizing that the only substantial thing that was in that direction was, “...Cami?”

He gave him a grave nod. “She made me sign documents that stated I had to keep a person, a _child_ , secret. No one could know that a little girl exists. I couldn’t risk her being seen anywhere.. For five years.” 

Patton blinked, clearly horrified. “... _Why?”_

He let out a humorless laugh, getting another sip of his drink. “Why is she evil? Or why did I agree to it?” 

“...Both, I guess?”

“Well.. I can’t really tell you why she’s evil. She’s just self absorbed and cares about herself more than anything else in the world. We found out she was pregnant and she was already concocting plans about how to make a big show out of it all. We’d get all this attention and since we were “the _perfect couple,_ just _imagine_ how amazing our baby would be.” Which.. Whatever, I could deal with all that. She’s always loved attention. She’d get the new clothes and the interviews and get to design a whole room, sure whatever. But then I found out her grand scheme was to immediately just give her up, and then make up a sob story to the media about how we “ _tragically lost her._ ” Because she’d get even more sympathy attention. She could play off of that for _years_. Which is.. The fact that she even was capable of coming up with something like that? And then able to _seriously_ pitch it to me like I’d be on board... I just needed to get out of there. And I was going to take my daughter with me. So.. In the end I agreed to everything she demanded, because I wanted Cami. And I wanted that woman to have nothing to do with my daughter.” Roman explained. 

The daycare worker was positively aghast. His mind reeling as he tried to even begin to make sense of all that. Eventually a comment slipped out of his mouth. “...Couldn’t you have just taken her to court for that? That’s not how like.. Custody works, right?” 

Roman shook his head. “The NDA was the only part that was an official legal thing - that and her termination of parental rights paperwork. The rest of it was all personal threat to me. Once she realized I was serious about keeping her, that I was not ever going to agree with her stupid attention plot or go along with her lies... From there on, it had nothing to do with Cami, and had everything to do with her wanting to turn our divorce into the spectacle I was now denying her. To give herself the limelight and look like the victim, to have extra air time and attention, the money from me and from all her appearances everywhere... And if I didn’t agree to all that, to give her everything she wanted and to stay quiet for long enough for her “to build up enough money so she can maintain the lifestyle to which she’s accustomed, even if things go poorly” after the real information came out, _and_ send her on what was basically a year long luxury spa holiday, then.. Then Cami wouldn’t have been born in the first place.” 

If Patton had thought he’d been horrified before.. That had clearly been blown right out of the water. “...It wasn’t even about.. Anything to do with any of the..? It was just.. She only saw her as a bargaining chip to get you to.. She.. That’s so.. _Awful_.”

He could only nod, watching Patton process what the last few years had been for him. He’d never told anyone all that before, he hadn’t had the ability to. ...He had to admit it was a certain kind of cathartic. “..Yeah. Like I said, evil. But.. It is what it is. I.. I can only try and make things right for her now. She.. I just want her to have everything. I want her to be happy and have the best time and... Everyone expected me to have some big announcement, to come out and give my side. Even my parents asked me if I would be taking Cami on some talk show and giving her a whole debut. But.. I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care if people find out about her, I don’t care about trying to clear the rumors. I just.. I want her to have fun. I just want to give her a vacation after having been nowhere for her whole life.” 

Patton didn’t know where to begin. There was so much to comment on, so much to try to understand, so much to.. He looked at Roman. He was so.. Tired. He was clearly just doing what he could, trying to do right by his daughter. “...She’s going to have a great time, Roman. You’re.. You’re doing your best. ...You’re a great Dad.” 

Roman blinked, looking over at Patton with surprise, his expression very soft - almost vulnerable. “...Thank you, Patton. I.. That means a lot. Really.” 

He gave him a little smile and a nod, going back to sitting quietly with him, just keeping him company while he sat with his thoughts. They stayed there for a bit longer, sitting in the comfortable silence, finishing their drinks. Eventually Roman sat his cup down on the table, looking over to Patton with a tired smile. “I think I’m going to head to bed. ...Traveling can really take it out of you.” 

Patton nodded. “Sounds good, I’ll see you in the morning. Good night, Roman.” 

“Good night, Patton.” 

Roman stood, suddenly giving Patton a better view of what the popstar was dressed in. He’d been able to tell while they were sitting that there was a figure on his shirt, while his pants were plain red pajama bottoms. But once he got up he could see that the character on his shirt was Li Shang from Mulan. He smiled as Roman past by, enjoying the immediate mental comparison between him and the character - as well as a welcome distraction from all he’d just learned. Patton glanced behind him once be was heading down the hall. Maybe at first it was to enjoy the view.. But he blinked a few times in disbelief as he read what was printed on the back of Roman’s shirt, processing what it said while his face quickly turned red. 

“ _Bisexual Icon._ ” 


	5. Chapter 5

Patton had no concept of how much time he spent laying in bed that night, thinking about all of that the information he’d received. So much was running through his mind. All that Roman had been through already, all the strangeness that Cami must have experienced up to this point.. The fact that she wouldn’t even realized that it was all that strange. 

As he couldn’t help but continue to think more on the specifics of the situation, something hit him like a ton of bricks. With the specificities of the NDA that Roman had signed.. He’d never told anyone that whole story before. He’d been one of the first, if not _the_ first, person that Roman had been able to actually let that out to. Just.. Having had to keep that kind of thing in this entire time.. 

Something else hit him as well.. That day at the daycare when he’d met Roman, he’d come from the announcement performance. It was prerecorded, but only by so much. So he’d been doing it and then he came to get Cami.. Patton was the first person to ever see the two of them together. No one had ever just.. Seen them in the same place before he did. He.. He didn’t know why that felt so big to him.. But it was such a huge moment and he was sure that Roman felt the same way about it. 

And finally, the third act of his brain whammy’s snuck in. Bisexual icon. Sure, simply the fact that maybe that also applied to him and wasn’t just a fun shirt describing the character.. Why would someone wear that if it didn’t also fit them though? It was a pretty entertaining headcanon for Shang though.. But.. Either way. Just because he was potentially bisexual didn’t mean he had a chance with him. He was still Roman Prince, the famous A-lister, the huge popstar, the.. The sweet man who cared so much about his daughter. The one who he kept seeming to be sharing little glances with.. No. No matter. He couldn’t let himself think that that was a possibility. It was one thing to have a crush on a celebrity, a lot of people did.. But.. He was a special kind of close to him now, wasn’t he? Maybe that would.. 

Roman also spent a good bit of time laying in his bed staring at the ceiling. The master suite was definitely very nice, not quite what he had at home, but it would be more than enough for a month vacation. But.. He dragged a hand down his face. Was he really doing this? Was he really.. Patton was basically Cami’s babysitter, and here he was.. With a crush like he was back in high school. That was unfair, wasn’t it? He sort’ve hired him, he was basically paying him to be there with him. It was.. There had to be some kind of power imbalance there, didn’t there? Even though.. Well, he’d already paid him. It wasn’t like Patton had to suck up to him if he wanted to get paid at the end of this trip or anything.. Still though. He was.. This was.. Ugh. He rolled over and planted his face in his pillow. He’d deal with this another time. 

Both men may have gotten a bit less sleep than they might have hoped for, but that certainly didn’t apply to one excited little girl. Her eyes opened and she found herself in a new bed in a new place.. Better go explore it, right? 

From the moment Cami’s feet hit the floor she was running. Thankfully, after she’d slipped out of the covers, she’d kicked off her socks. They were already half off from sleep anyway, they’d just get annoying. But she ran out of her room and up and down the hall, her little feet slapping against the tile loudly as she tried to look at absolutely everything at once. It was decorated like they were in a castle! There were pretty colors and new things to climb on and..

The sound of those little feet might not have been the loudest thing in the world, it probably wouldn’t wake most. Especially if they’d been up late pondering all of their life choices. But when the two people in the suite with her were a father of a very small child and a man who’d worked in childcare for several years now.. They were both quickly making their way out of their beds as soon as the sound had passed by their doors. 

Roman and Patton caught eyes as they both quickly threw their room doors open, only taking a half second to register the other before they were moving. Patton’s room was closer to the mouth of the hallway - so the fact that as soon as he had gotten to the point where he could see fully into the living room, he’d immediately doubled his speed and disappeared around a corner from where Roman could see him… Well that just wasn’t a good sign. 

Roman hurried the rest of the way down the hall, quickly finding the scene of Patton with Cami in his arms, the daycare worker’s chest heaving a little bit as he tried to calm down his breathing. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to suss out what must have been happening, seeing as Cami was giggling up a storm and Patton was standing next to the bookcase. 

“…Cami, what’s the rule at home?” He asked, looking at her with a bit of scolding in his tone. 

Cami looked at him for a moment before she wilted into a pout, crossing her little arms. “…No climbing when Papa’s not around..” 

Patton almost laughed, he wasn’t exactly surprised that that was something that Roman would have to worry about - Cami had a lot of energy.. But the fact that it had happened enough times to warrant a specific rule.. That was pretty funny. 

“Right. That’s not different just because we’re not at home, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.” Roman said.

“Okay, Papa…” She nodded, looking back at him. 

“Thank you, Princess. …Alright, so.. How about some breakfast then? Since we’re all awake?” Roman offered, laughing a bit in spite of himself at that entire situation. He definitely noticed the amusement on Patton’s face, and to be fair.. He couldn’t deny it was pretty funny.

“Yeah! Breakfast!” Cami answered excitedly. 

Roman smiled, moving his gaze to Patton. “…Coffee?” 

Patton responded with a laugh in his voice. “Please.” 

“Alright.. I think we should be stocked up on food in here.. Let’s see what I can find.” Roman nodded, turning for the kitchen. 

“I can help!” Cami answered, immediately trying to wiggle out of Patton’s grasp. He quickly lowered her to the floor so she could run off to the kitchen. 

“I think we can make a big fun breakfast another morning, Princess. Today I think it’s just gonna be a quick one so we can go to the park. Don’t you want to go on the rides and see everything sooner?” Roman responded, trying to soften the blow of what was essentially “ _no happy Mickey face pancakes today._ ” 

Thankfully, the misdirect was more than enough. “Oh! Yeah, yeah! Okay. We should go fast!” 

Roman laughed and shook his head, speaking under his breath. “It’s always zero or one hundred..”

Patton couldn’t help but smile, him ending up offering to take Cami to get her clothes ready for the day while Roman got the coffee pot on and found everything they’d need for three bowls of cereal. Their very normal and casual breakfast was so exceptionally surreal. Heh, surreal.. Cereal.. He needed to remember that one. Anyway. The fact that he was sitting here eating Cheerios with a celebrity.. It was a hell of a juxtaposition. 

It passed by without much notice, however. They eventually found themselves fed, dressed, ready, and making their way out to go to Cami’s first ever theme park. Both of the adults would definitely admit to being Disney fans in their right, there were plenty of things that they would have been interested in seeing. But right now was one hundred percent about Cami. They made their way into the Magic Kingdom, only getting stopped for a few extra seconds when the person scanning their cards saw the names Roman Prince and then Camilla Prince come up on the screen. They made it through relatively quickly though, slipping into the park and disappearing from view of the employees taking the tickets. 

Roman might have been a bit concerned about that person telling the rest of the staff and word of his arrival at the park traveling quickly.. But then they turned a corner and Cami saw that big Disney castle. Everything else just melted away at that point. The excited gasp that left her lips was worth a thousand paparazzi and a million photographs. Today was going to be perfect. No matter what happened. 

The very first thing that Cami wanted was to get the Mickey ears, and she insisted that Patton and Roman get pairs as well so they could all be matchers. So of course they went, Cami finding a pink princess pair with a big bow and tons of glitter. Roman went with the rose gold, they were a little loud with the glitter but.. Who was he kidding, they suited him perfectly. Patton found an adorable pair with rainbow ears, and with the word Pride on the back of one of the ears… Of course he couldn’t turn that down. When he placed his on the counter with the other two pairs so Roman could check out, he definitely one hundred and twelve percent was imagining that Roman’s eyes stuck on them for a moment, and that he’d had to look away quickly with a soft blush. That didn’t happen. It just… It didn’t. 

They left with their ears on and made their way to the area that was designed more for Cami’s age and size - not thinking about that interaction, completely putting it out of their minds. 

Patton made sure to take approximately forty seven thousand pictures on that first day, capturing so many huge smiles and mid laughs as Cami had the time of her life. The rides, the running around, the snacks, the characters.. There were definitely a good few of her and Roman just so obviously enjoying the time they were having together. Everything else really did fade away. It was just Patton, Roman, and Cami at Disneyworld. No crazy stuff because of anyone’s name or reputation, no protocols to fret about, no concern about whether or not this was just a job or who may or may not have been developing what for who. Just the three of them having an absolutely amazing day. 

They crammed about as much as they possibly could into that day, only stopping when it became clear that a certain little girl was only still conscious due to the excitement buzzing around inside her. With her energy clearly zapped, she was scooped up and carried back out, her falling asleep on Roman’s shoulder long before they even reached the gate. 

And this was what most of their days were from that point forward. They’d go to a park or out to some area to explore in the morning and be out and play essentially until it was time to get that little girl back inside again. A couple times Roman kept them back and didn’t have them leave the hotel until later in the day, making sure that Cami would be able to stay up to see the fireworks. He’d never seen so much awe on her little face.

It was actually a good bit into the trip before it was clear that she needed a good day or so to rest up before another day full of fun. She’d kept moving almost on sheer excitement and adrenaline each day thus far, but her little four year old body could only handle that for so long. Which was good, seeing as the two accompanying her were much older than four, and actually had knees and backs that had begun to protest to their exciting plans. They weren’t going to stop for anything, of course. Not as long as she was still up to go. But still. 

Neither of them seemed like they really wanted to admit that they were feeling the effects that about two weeks of daily theme parking was catching up with their adult bodies, but it wasn’t that hard for like to recognize like. 

Cami was somewhere between awake and asleep on the couch, the tv just playing Disney movies in a playlist, her waking up and then dozing off once again to watching them. Roman had been doing a few stretches, it was clear those broad shoulders weren’t having the best time right about now. Patton was laid back on the other couch, thumbing through the folder of information he’d been given when they’d arrived. There were plenty of details about what was available in the hotel itself, as well as the conveniences they provided as far as accessing their parks were concerned. 

It was once he’d discovered a particular leaflet that he looked up to see Roman was still trying to alleviate something in his back. “…Hey Roman? Why don’t you go over to the day spa? You could get a massage.” He offered, holding up the page so he could see it. 

Roman raised an eyebrow, looking over and only realizing at that moment that he’d been doing this just sitting on a bar stool, completely in plain sight. “Uh.. Huh?” He asked, getting up to go grab the page from him and read over it. He honestly loved a massage.. He hadn’t gotten one in a good while.. But he looked back to Patton. “…I don’t want to leave you alone though. You don’t have to watch her by yourself.”

Patton arched an eyebrow high over his glasses, gesturing to the girl on the couch who hadn’t spent more than two consecutive minutes conscious in the last three hours. 

The popstar considered his options a bit. “….fair point. Alright.. I guess that does sound pretty good, my back is..” He trailed off, seeing that playful little look on Patton’s face. He knew. “..Right. But when I get back you’re going to get one next.” 

That actually surprised him. “Oh, I’m alright. I don’t need one..” 

And now Roman was arching his eyebrow in retaliation. “Have you had a massage before?” 

“Well, no but..” 

“No buts. It’s wonderful. And my treat. _And_ I insist.” Roman said with a playful smirk. 

Patton gave him a fond eye roll, shaking his head in a laugh. “Alright, alright. Just go. I’ll hold down the fort.” 

“Thanks, Pat.” He smiled, checking the location on the page before handing it back and going to grab his keycard and slipping out the door. 

Time passed by quickly enough, with one part of Patton’s mind wondering when the heck he’d gotten on a nickname basis with Roman Prince.. Another questioning how they’d developed their, frankly adorable, ability to adeptly use unspoken conversation.. And the final one wondering when he’d started siding with the Dad’s in Disney movies.. _Ariel you are a child, you need to listen to-_

The door opened and pulled him back to reality, Patton having no idea that it had been that long since Roman had left. Roman looked, in a word, refreshed. He wasn’t rolling his shoulders, his expression was far more relaxed.. Patton smiled when he saw him like that, not for any other reason besides.. He was just happy to see him looking so happy. Roman’s happiness was.. It was important to him.

Roman didn’t know what he was going to do if Patton kept looking at him like that, he already felt like he was on a dangerously slippery slope, and if he kept being this adorable all the time he was going to slip right over that precipice. He could dwell on that once he’d left. “Alright, you’re up.” He said with a warm smile.

“…Oh, right. Um..” Patton picked up the page to figure out where he was going and to glance over the options they had before he left. He looked over to Roman. “…What am I supposed to get? I don’t know what a lot of these words mean. At least not when they have something to do with a massage.” 

The popstar just shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, just tell them that I sent you. I already told them to expect you.” 

Patton’s face somehow softened more, him nodding and standing up so he could walk past him, gently resting a hand on his shoulder before he fully went by. “…Thanks, Ro.” He said fondly, then quickly slipped out. 

Roman plopped himself down on the arm of the couch, finding himself staring at the closed door of the suite. He needed to figure out what he was going to do. Because he was finally beginning to accept the fact that.. He absolutely needed to do something.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so glad people have been enjoying this little story :D I’d been so nervous about writing and posting it but I clearly didn’t need to be. Maybe I’ll actually work on some of the other things I’ve been nervous about <3

For the most part, they really hadn’t had to deal with anything too out of the ordinary - as ordinary as it could have been for a trip to Florida, anyway. There had been a few times Roman was spotted while they out and about, but Patton was always quick to turn away a bit and distract Cami for a moment while Roman ended up taking an inevitable selfie. And sometimes sign a quick something if they had a pen on hand. 

It wasn’t until near the end of the trip that there was actually something that really needed handling. Seeing as they’d been on this trip for multiple weeks at this point, social media had more than a few good shots of Roman floating around. As well as posts or tweets about different interactions with him, usually from employees at the different places they’d visited. 

So once it was known that he seemed to be staying around the Orlando area - because of course the gossip news was reporting these sightings, it became much more likely that he’d be spotted now that some people were actually looking. Up to that point it hadn’t been much of an issue, usually it was just one person, maybe two or three. That he could handle. But when a fairly sizable mob of people noticed him in the circle in front of Cinderella’s castle, it was clear that he wasn’t going to get out of that all that quickly or easily. Thankfully, he did realize said mob was coming directly for him relatively quickly, which gave him enough time to turn to Patton and hurriedly whisper. “Can you take her to go do something fun? I don’t want her to have to deal with this. I’ll find you guys when I can get away.”

Patton immediately nodded and took Cami’s hand to lead her back to the area specifically for kids her age, promising to take her to one of the several rides that she’d declared was her favorite one ever. She only asked Patton once where Papa went, but thankfully Patton’s quick answer of, “He had some people he needs to talk to, he’ll be back really soon.” Was accepted without any kind of protest. There was a part of the daycare worker’s mind that wondered how many times she’d have heard that exact excuse before.. But that wasn’t a concern for right now.

Roman was a bit stuck with this group of fans, all asking for selfies and autographs. He normally didn’t really care all that much about this happening. He’d definitely encountered this several times before, afterall, and he didn’t have a problem interacting with his fans and indulging them a bit. …But this wasn’t a normal situation on a normal day. This was Cami’s trip and it was supposed to be about her. But he knew that Patton had her, he knew they were safe and having fun, and he knew that he’d be back with them soon.

So he played the part. He smiled, laughed, took selfies, signed Disney autograph books - it did genuinely amuse him to see his autograph next to Donald Duck’s, if he was honest. He went through all the necessary motions. He may have been a singer, but it wasn’t as though he wasn’t also a pretty talented actor in his own right. It felt like an eternity before he was able to slip in a little comment about how he was on vacation, he did want to get back to being less noticeable so he didn’t have to spend his whole day doing this, and this group was certainly drawing a lot more attention than he’d had preferred to have. 

He finally slipped away, replacing his hat and sunglasses, and heading off toward wherever Patton had gone with Cami. Pulling out his phone, he sent him a quick text to find out where they went so he could rejoin them. 

Patton received the text, it had barely been enough time for Cami to be able to get on the ride they walked over here for - and it was a quick one that could fit a lot of kids, so the line moved pretty fast. Roman was there before Cami was even off the ride, sidling up to Patton with apologies upon apologies. Patton certainly found this confusing, wasn’t this why he brought him? Why was he apologizing so much for the exact reason he’d wanted another adult on hand?

Roman was still babbling on when Patton reached over and put his hand on the popstar’s shoulder, standing directly in front of him and bringing his attention strictly back onto himself and the present. “Ro. Really, you don’t need to apologize. You weren’t even gone that long. Please, just breathe, okay? I’m here to help, I want to help.” He said, sincere and unwavering. 

The popstar had to look back at him for several moments before an embarrassed smile spread across his face. “…Sorry, I just.. I thought that we’d be able to avoid that actually happening.” 

“…Yeah, but.. We’ve been out here for about three weeks now. People are realizing you’re here. Its been in all those gossip news reports and all over instagram and twitter.. They’re trying to get pictures of you. It’s just.. How it works, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.. I hope that is alright with you? They’ve probably gotten a good few shots with you in them too, if it’s on the gossip streams. The first few they may not have noticed, but once they realize you’re the same person each time they’ll start asking questions. …I wonder if they’ve mentioned Cami yet.” He commented, growing more concerned as he continued to speak. 

Patton gave him a teeny bit of a shake with the hand that still rested on his shoulder, pulling him back to the present yet again. “I figured it would probably happen. It’s alright, Roman.”

Roman didn’t seem the most convinced of that answer, but he did have a certain little girl running right back into his arms after she got off her ride. So that conversation had to be tabled for now. 

But that didn’t mean he’d just let it go. 

By the time they made it back to the hotel and Roman eventually found himself laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.. He admit that the little thing nagging him at the back of his mind hadn’t worsened his day, but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten about it.

Patton had assured him and assured him that he didn’t mind the little issue earlier that day, but Roman still felt bad. He didn’t know why he did? But for some reason he just felt like he needed to make it up to him, it just seemed like the right thing to do. He.. He just wanted to do something nice for Patton. He wanted to do something nice.. For them both. 

This vacation was for Cami. This vacation was for celebrating that NDA ending. This vacation was.. Also for him and Patton. Yes, they came to Disney because Cami loved all things Disney, but how did she end up like that? Certainly not her father - the man who’s last name was Prince, the one who gave her the middle name Rose, the one who introduced her to everything she knew and loved. So yeah, it was also for him. And now Patton was here too. He’d been paid to be here, but Roman had seen him having fun… He hoped he’d been having fun. It had honestly been a long while since he thought about the fact that he’d hired Patton on, he only saw him as someone on this vacation along with him by this point. It was just.. He was enjoying this vacation with both of them. And maybe.. Maybe this vacation could even be one thing more.

Roman wanted to say that the amount of time it took him to set up his plan was due to the complexity of it. Or trouble getting a reservation. Or even something to do with Cami. But no, it was simple - saying the name Roman Prince pretty much guaranteed you a reservation anywhere, and the hotel had a fun little kid’s club that Cami could go to to do some fun activities. Vacation daycare essentially. …Was that ironic? He had to find daycare for his daughter because he was going to be occupying the daycare worker that he brought along’s time? …There had to be some kind of weird lesson or meaning to that, but oh well. 

The reason why it took him so long was strictly his own nerves. He was a bit nervous about asking in the first place, he didn’t want to make things awkward or uncomfortable, part of him was still not really sure if this was a weird breech of some sort employee/employer relationship? Or power imbalance.. Whatever that all was.

But Roman couldn’t deny that there was… _Probably_ something there. He and Patton had definitely gone from an awkward ‘I’m not sure how to act around you because we’re very different people’ relationship to a less awk- well, probably equally as awkward ‘I’m not sure how to act around you because I want you to like me’ place. They both blushed, they both stammered, they both.. Felt a little like this was a high school crush, honestly. But while Roman was enamored with the cute boy he’d seen around who seemed like he was comprised entirely of sunshine, Patton felt like the nerd who wanted the most popular boy in school just like everyone else. 

Thankfully, Roman did get over his hesitation and at least managed to set up the reservation to a the nicest restaurant in the hotel, as well as get Cami prepped and excited to go play at the kid’s camp. Unfortunately, however, when he did finally go to Patton to ask him to attend this dinner with him, he floundered. 

“Oh hey, Pat. I wanted to ask you something.” Roman began.

Patton looked up from his laptop on the couch, smiling up at him with his ray of sunshine smile. “Sure thing, Ro. What is it?”

The popstar’s heart rate picked up, and all of his plans of being someone smooth and charismatic, someone suave and effortless, someone everyone would expect the Casanova Roman Prince to be… Someone who actually had the ability to just ask someone on a date in a straightforward manner, went right out the window. 

“…I wanted to.. Thank you. Again. For everything. But like.. In a more real way? So I got a reservation for a really nice restaurant here in the hotel. It’s supposed to be one of the absolute best. Would you like to go?” Roman asked, already internally kicking himself.

The daycare worker looked back at him for a moment, processing. But after a second, he let out a warm little laugh. “Oh, Ro.” He shook his head fondly. “Of course I’ll go, but I’ve told you a dozen times you don’t need to thank me. …When is the reservation?” 

“Tonight, in about an hour? And.. Well, too late for that I guess.” He smiled and playfully shrugged. “Do you have anything to wear to a fancier place?” 

“Uh.. I think I can at least look presentable? Probably not as nice as you’ll look, but I can try?” Patton responded, putting his laptop to the side to prepare to stand and go look through his clothes, and then immediately flushing red as he actually heard what he’d just said. 

“I don’t think you need to worry about that.” Roman nodded, also blushing a bit and turning to head to his room to also get changed. 

They both fled to their rooms to lean back against their closed door and curse all of their life choices, then set off to get themselves dressed. Sure, Roman’s shirt and slacks were from a high end brand and made from some of the finest fabrics available, while Patton’s were much more reasonable on both of those fronts, but when they emerged ready to go to dinner, they both looked quite nice. There were little differences, Roman’s red button up shirt was tailored while Patton’s blue one was not, Roman’s shoes were probably real leather… But they were still equally enamored with the other.

They walked through the hotel together, making their way to the restaurant after dropping Cami off at the kid’s club, and they were seated immediately. 

The two of them sat down at a table that was immaculately set, there was a lit candle in the center, as well as a single beautiful rose in a vase. They were both blushing a bit as they quickly hid behind their menus, Patton even more so when he had to ask Roman - seeing as he was much more versed in this kind of fine cuisine, what some of the things on the menu actually were. Roman was happy to explain of course, and they were able to get their order in with no issues.

It took them a little bit, but it wasn’t long before they fell into their usual comfortable style of conversation. It was nice. It was.. What the two of them had built up over the last near month. When you let the status fall away, they had a lot in common. They had warm dispositions, corny senses of humor, pleasant outlooks on things… 

They shared their very nice meal, accompanied by a couple glasses of what was easily the best wine Patton had ever had. The daycare worker had been ignoring the romantic atmosphere to the best of his ability, but once they’d gotten to just about the end of the meal, he couldn’t do it anymore. 

He took in a steadying breath before looking up to catch Roman’s gaze. “…Roman?” 

The popstar looked up, when was the last time Patton used his full name? “Yes, Patton?”

“I.. Wanted to ask you something.” Patton said, echoing the words that had led to this dinner in the first place.

Roman blinked, the word choice certainly hadn’t been lost on him. “Sure thing, what is it?” 

They stared at one another for a long moment, searching each other’s eyes until Patton spoke. “….Is this.. Is this a date?” 

The popstar turned a bit pink, stalling for a moment by getting another sip from his wineglass. “…I suppose.. It depends on whether or not you’d like it to be?”

That had gotten a little giggle out of the man across from him. “Well.. If I did want it to be, and _you_ wanted it to be.. Then I guess..” 

Roman responded with a shy little smile. “Then.. Yes, it is. Maybe.. Maybe I even meant to ask you if you wanted it to be earlier. Maybe.. That was the plan when I planned it.” 

Patton smiled wider, cheeks definitely darkening. “Are you telling me that Roman Prince was _embarrassed_? Embarrassed to ask something of _me_?” 

“Hey, _you_ are completely ignoring an extremely important fact here.” Roman said quickly, playfully defensive.

“Oh am I? What’s that, then?” He responded, his tone jokingly teasing.

Roman’s smile grew, clearly feeling triumphant that Patton walked right into his little trap. “Just how cute you are.” 

The man across from him somehow turned even more red, unable to hide his ear to ear grin as Roman looked back over him fondly. After a moment he raised his glass, the two of them sharing a toast and then getting back to their date. Both of them ecstatic to know that it actually, really was one.

Over the course of their trip, especially toward the end, there had been a lot speculation about what Roman was doing and who was with him. It had taken a few pictures from a few different days before anyone realized that the man in the round glasses and the little girl were going around with him. They wondered who this man was and what his relationship was with Roman, and seeing as they hadn’t gotten a clear shot of the little girl - she did move quite a lot, it was generally assumed that she was the child of the bespectacled companion. 

Roman and Patton had seen these rumors and just sort’ve shrugged their shoulders, it didn’t bother them in the slightest and they were much more concerned with enjoying their last week in Orlando both with Cami and as a new couple.

By the time their vacation ended, there was only one picture you’d see if you went to a gossip news channel or website, or saw the front page of a magazine. A beautiful shot of Cinderella’s castle off in the distance, with a kissing couple as the main focus. Roman Prince had one hand softly holding another man’s cheek - a very cute man in round glasses, as they shared a loving kiss. There was also a little girl sitting on Roman’s shoulders, smiling wide as she was clearly mid-laugh. And it was undeniable that she looked exactly like her father. 

Genevieve Anneliese has declined all requests for comment.


End file.
